Expatriate Food Technology And Value-Added Caribbean Agricultural Produce

Contemporary international aid in primary agriculture to the Caribbean region is at the stage when a concomitant program of advanced food processing know-how is the obvious next agenda item. Processes for fruits and vegetables are universal, but expatriate delivery systems must be tailored to the Caribbean context in which the singular advantage over temperate-climate manufacturing is an over-abundance of heat. Thus, dehydration methodologies that harness this otherwise expensive and invaluable resource should be paramount over canning and refrigeration. In adapting the appropriate methodologies, aid institutions that are less inclined to tell "what's good for you", but are more inclined to ask, "how may we help you", should be the new partners. Where agricultural production is an important component of economic development strategies, there is no hope of success by imitating temperature-climate mechanisms. Uniquely tropical products and processes should be the new Caribbean dimension in international commerce. Cornell University's most recent initiative in international development, of the order of US$7.5 million, combines all these principles in technical assistance.